MELBOURNE: Head coach Jacco Verhaeren praised the Australian swim team’s “phenomenal” results at the world championships after landing their biggest medals haul in eight years, but his enthusiasm is certain to be tempered by some notable flops at Kazan.
Australia scooped seven gold, three silver and six bronze medals to finish the meet second behind the United States, who managed a total of 23 medals, including eight gold, despite the absence of some of their top swimmers.
Six of Australia’s titles came from three individuals, Emily Seebohm, Bronte Campbell and Mitch Larkin, who each took two golds.
“It was a big week, a fantastic week, we’ve seen a fantastic team, great performances,” Dutchman Verhaeren, former mentor to Olympic champions Pieter van den Hoogenband and Inge de Bruijn, told Australian media upon arrival.
“There are still some youngsters who need to learn, and we will give them the opportunity to do so, but overall the outcome is phenomenal.”
The team’s haul was their biggest since the 2007 world championships in Melbourne when they took nine gold, seven silver and five bronze medals, and continues an upward trajectory since the depths of the 2012 London Olympics.
Proud swimming nation Australia failed to win a single individual title at London and slumped to their lowest medals tally in 20 years.
A review of the flop would later plunge the team into further acrimony, revealing management failures and the abuse of prescription drugs by the men’s 100 metres freestyle relay team.
Verhaeren, who has said the team’s culture problems have been dealt with, warned his swimmers not to get too complacent about the Kazan medal tally.
“I think we should be careful getting ahead of ourselves,” he said.
“We are still learning, there were great performances but we still have a lot to do to make it happen on an Olympic stage as well.”
REUTERS
